See no Gannon, hear no Gannon, speak no Gannon -Salon.com 2/25/05

[Al-CIAda]

From Salon:
See no Gannon, hear no Gannon, speak no Gannon
Why has the mainstream media ignored the White House media access scandal?
- - - - - - - - - - -
By Eric Boehlert

Feb. 25, 2005  | On Feb. 17, "NBC Nightly News" anchor Brian Williams introduced a report on controversial White House correspondent James Guckert by informing viewers that the saga was "the talk of Washington." Nine days later the mysterious tale of an amateur, partisan journalist who slipped into the White House under false pretenses remains the buzz of the Beltway. Yet most mainstream reporters have opted not to cover the story. Two of the television networks, as well as scores of major metropolitan newspapers around the country, have completely ignored it.
"It's stunning to me that there are questions about the independent press being undermined and the mainstream press doesn't seem that interested in it," says Joe Lockhart, who served as press secretary during President Clinton's second term. "People in the mainstream press have shrugged their shoulders and said, 'It's a whole lot of nothing.'"

-----

Perhaps nobody is surprised that Republican-friendly Fox News has gone to extraordinary lengths to avoid covering the Guckert story and the embarrassing questions it raises for the Bush White House. Since the story began to take shape earlier this month, Fox News has filled more than 500 hours of programming. During that span the name "Jeff Gannon" has been uttered just five times on the air, according to a search of the LexisNexis electronic database of television news transcripts. And at no point have the facts surrounding the story been explained to Fox's viewers. (Dependable Republican ally Matt Drudge, who in the past has gleefully trumpeted media scandals, has also been allergic to Gannongate, posting just one link to date on his Web site.)
But it is surprising that a program like MSBNC's "Hardball," which touts itself as the home of authentic Beltway chatter and which has aired 15 episodes since the Guckert story first emerged, has dedicated just one segment from one show to the Guckert controversy. MSNBC's "Countdown With Keith Olbermann," however, has been much more aggressive in covering the story. Only CNN has covered the story with any kind of consistency among the 24-hour news channels.

http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2005/02/25/gannon_coverage/

=======

Thursday, February 24, 2005
Bush Administration and Texas Republican Party Appear to Have Lied About Ties to Jeff Gannon's Boss, Bobby Eberle; In Other News, Old Media Is Dead

By ADVOCATE STAFF
.
The less you know about Gannongate, the easier it is to write about it.
Makes sense, doesn't it? If you haven't done the necessary research, Gannongate can appear to be nothing more than a case of sloppy journalism with an attendant, but ultimately irrelevant dabbling into the personal affairs of a White House reporter--which, while occasionally interesting, was in the end (this particularly odious theory goes) not entirely newsworthy.
Of course, if you have done the necessary research, then writing an article like this one by David Corn would be, ironically, a true exemplar of sloppy journalism.
So, how it is that The Nation's Corn can openly wonder if Gannongate is "smaller than it seems," while Salon declares it's "worse than you think?"
Two reasons.
The first, of course, is the laziness of the print media. But we've already said enough on that topic.

Great article-
http://nashuaadvocate.blogspot.com/

[lovuian]

1. I saw the MSNBC piece which had a interesting point that

Gannon said he was a newspaper reporter for GopUSA this obscure web site and thats why he got special press priveledges but the kicker is he was a reporter and given a press pass 2 weeks before he was on their payroll!!!

[republicannincompoop]

2. OK, maybe this is weird, but is this link true?:

http://www.libertythink.com/2005/02/gannon-paymaster-key-911-pentagon.html

Could explain a lot of why Gannon was allowed access: His boss was owed a favor?

[lovuian]

4. Bingo Eberle & Gannon are part of a special army of State Media

acting like journalist but really servants to the Bush Propoganda Machine ...theres alot of questions at what exactly did hit the pentagon many think it was a missile!!!

Gannon & Eberle always seem to have ESP being at the right place at the right time!!!

There are no coincidences and everything is connected!!!OOO

[republicannincompoop]

22. Let's see, an Eberle created a "News Org", staffed by a phony

reporter, lobbing obviously orchestrated softball questions to this administration.

The same Bobby Eberle that just happened to be in front of the Pentagon, and "eyewitnessed" the jet fly into the Pentagon?

Let's go over that again: A Fake News Org. A Fake Reporter. A Fake Name.

And I am supposed to believe Eberle is a CREDIBLE witness?

What I see here, is the final unwinding and unmasking, of the American Nazi Party's propaganda machine. Not that it will mean anything: only bullets will unseat these usurpers of democracy.

Our own Reichstagg fire.

Our own Home(Father)Land Security apparatus.

Economic policies intended to recreate the financial meltdown of the post-WWI Germany, burdened with war reparations (and the US burdened by colossal budget deficits, after inheriting a huge surplus and balanced budget), along with " internal foreign agents" threatening "terrorism" against "us". Yep, sounds historically familiar.

FEMA built "concentration camps" in US that NO ONE seems to be explaining the purpose of.

I truly believe it will end in arms being taken up against this abomination called "Representative Government."

Very seldom if ever, in fact, do I see ANY legislation that could be, but isn't, halted by a determined, principled minority Democratic party.

Ergo, they collaborate.

Obviously.

So, we can unmask this phony jeffyjim , so what? WHAT will it accomplish against a Bought and Paid for mass media?

Not like America is a GAIN class, y'know?

Lightbulbs won't start popping in evanglical minds with our revelations about their malecheerleaderking , I assure you.

Thank goodness I am 50, and able to retire to Thailand soon.

You know, I actually feel like a coward to leave my sons this America.

[oasis]

3. "Only CNN has covered the story with any kind of consistency". A more

accurate accounting of CNN's involvement would be to say that "CNN has consistently 'covered' for the White House on the Gannon story."

[SideshowScott]

5. The Press dies when it is silent..

We are watching the mainstream press commit suicide right before our very eyes by its silence. When you cannot trust the press to expose the wrongs and to shill for the powers that be it will become nothing..Dead..I for one have mixed feelings about it..On one hand its exactly what it gets for crawling up Bush's butt on the other hand as an American its very sad to see what was a shining example to the world is now nothing more than a hallow joke.
Pressgate has them see no evil, hear no evil and without a doubt speak no evil..

[dbt]

6. I dunno about suicide, but we are sure talking self-induced COMA!

I totally agree with the rest of your post, SideshowScott. What the utter LACK of coverage of GannonGate tells me is that the MSM (I prefer SCLM "So-Called Liberal Media") will go to any lengths to kill or ignore a story that does not put bu$hler in the most favorable light.

It also tells me that this pro-bu$h stance was a deliberate move by the Five Old White Men who effectively control everything we see on TV. For better than EIGHT YEARS, we were fed "Clinton Scandals" 24/7. But everything was suddenly OK the minute bu$h put his scaly hand on the Bible? After a decade of vicious muckraking and tabloid sensationalism, the Office of The President is suddenly worthy of respect again?

I DON'T THINK SO, TIM. Something smells like week-old jockstraps around here!

And while we're at this, how come the election fraud in Ukraine was real in the Media's eyes, but the fraud right here at home was only "Internet Rumors?"

A hollow joke, for real.

[Chipper Chat]

7. Maybe the BBC will investigate!

And blast us on BBC-TV. Our media is too chickenshit and/or have corporate guns held to their reporters' heads.

[woosh]

17. Is this Greg Palast territory?

[kk897]

8. "according to a search of Lexis Nexis." Wow, that's the gold standard.

Or is it? I don't know why people aren't more upset that Lexis Nexis is clearly controlled by the right. I offered proof in a thread mostly ignored, which is fine, but I'd gladly welcome additional input. In retrospect, I posted as I was making discoveries, which probably made the thread hard to read, so perhaps I ought to try again.

But anyway... LN has "products" with terrifying Big Brother-ish implications, including one matching skip tracing (i.e., finding people who don't pay their credit card bills, etc.) to GEOGRAPHIC LOCATION. Miss a few payments? Soon, no doubt, collectors won't just be calling you on the phone at all hours but knocking on your door. Oh, and if you're a well-known liberal blogger, I doubt they would be able to use the same product to find you... no worries.

And the LN search service itself-- well, I suspect it would be terribly easy to remove any inconvenient data or plant incriminating.

Don't get me wrong: it's good to have information at your fingertips, and masses of it. What worries me is when the owners of databases have a clear ideological bent.

[rainbow4321]

9. I love the Texas repukes' "Eberle? Eberle, who???"

You know they must be hiding something good if the TX repukes are
going into a tailspin....guess that loud buzzing sound coming from around the state is the roar of shredders working overtime!


http://nashuaadvocate.blogspot.com/2005/02/bush-administration-and-texas.html


The Republican Party of Texas (RPT), through its spokeswoman Sherry Sylvester, told The Houston Chronicle that no one at the RPT knows Bobby Eberle, the owner of GOPUSA. With all due respect to the RPT, that that statement is a lie has now been confirmed several times over. Not only was Eberle one of a few dozen Texas Delegates (from the RPT) to the 2000 Republican National Convention, he was awarded the distinction of being one of the RPT's "Volunteers of the Year" in 2000. He was also on the 2000 RPT Convention Host Committee. Plus he was an RPT Convention Delegate in 1996, 1998, 2000, and 2002. Plus his GOPUSA co-founder is the Chairman of the Williamson County G.O.P.

Simply put, Eberle is a major player in the RPT and yet they have denied knowing who he is.

-------------------------------------------------------
On edit: his wife is a player in the TX repuke scene, also...yet TX repukes claim to not know the name Eberle?


http://mediamatters.org/items/200501280006

Treasurer Kathleen Eberle (Bobby Eberle's wife) is "active in grass roots Republican Party politics. In 1996, she was elected to the board of the Houston Young Republicans (HYRs) as the Director of Club Development, -- leading the club to almost double in size in one year. Kathleen served as Vice President of the HYR for the next two years. In 1998, she was appointed as the Texas Young Republican Federation Convention Co-Chairman. She served on several committees within this organization over the years, and chaired the Site Selection Committee in 1999. Kathleen's activities within the Republican Party of Texas (RPT) include serving as an alternate to the Senate District 13 Convention in 1996 and as a delegate in 2000. She also served as a delegate to the RPT State Convention in 2000. Kathleen is a strong believer in the importance of grass roots activism and has volunteered on numerous campaigns over the last eight years ranging from school board and city council elections to campaigns for the U.S. Congress and President of the United States."

[Roland99]

10. GREAT read in that 2nd link there, Al-CIAda!

[Al-CIAda]

14. Yes, the Nashua Advocate kicks ass!

[Totally Committed]

11. There is a doozey of an article as today's BuzzFlash headline:

Christian right mum on Gannon Affair...
Why have the 'traditional family values' folks erected a wall of silence around the Gannon scandal?

Interesting Excerpt:

Curious about this wall of silence, I phoned several Christian right groups on Tuesday, February 22, hoping to find someone who could comment on the Gannon Affair. This is what I found:

# Dr. James Dobson's Focus on the Family: I filled out an interview form and waited to hear back. Several hours later, a FotF administrative assistant called me to say that no one there could answer my questions about Gannon. She said a lot of folks were out sick and no one was available. "Would someone be available tomorrow or Thursday," I asked. She pointed out that no one would be available the following day or the day after to talk about this issue. "Next week?" "No."

~ The Family Research Council: I spoke with Amber Hildebrand, FRC's Media Director. She said "We haven't made any public comments about this. There have been other pressing issues that have taken precedent, although this came as a shock to FRC." Hildebrand said she would see if FRC's Vice President of Government Affairs Connie Mackey, would talk with me. At press time (Thursday evening) Mackey has not called.

~ The Traditional Values Coalition: I filled out an interview form and waited for a call back. As of 2.22, TVC Action Alerts are focused on the persecution and subsequent dismissal of charges against the "Philadelphia 5," a group of fundamentalists that disrupted a pro-gay activity in Philadelphia in order to preach "the Gospel to homosexuals," and on Columbia House for developing "a new subsidiary called Hush to market pornographic materials in association with Playboy and other pornography companies." At press time no one had returned my call. After making a second call, a TVC spokesperson told me that "no one is available to speak on that topic right now."

~ The Free Congress Foundation: Over at Paul Weyrich's Washington, DC-based organization, Jill Farrell, the Director of Communications told me that she hadn't "heard anyone say anything at all" about the Gannon Affair.

The editors at Town Hall, the Heritage Foundation's one stop shopping center for conservative ideas, and the Rev. Donald Wildmon's American Family Association, currently involved in trashing HBO's Bill Maher over recent remarks he made about religion, didn't return my calls. Charisma News Service and the Christian Response Network didn't respond to my email questions about their lack of coverage of the Gannon Affair.

Entire Article (well worthe the read!):
http://www.workingforchange.com/article.cfm?ItemID=18628

-----

Needless to say, if this were a Democratic "scandal".... well, you know.

TC

[Callboy]

12. the hypocracy. what else does fox have to cover this week

[Skittles]

21. I read that

JAYSUS - partisan morals - it doesn't get much more sickening than that

[quinnox]

13. And meanwhile, Swift Boat smears and lies were covered all day

every day for weeks by the same media, especially Hardball and CNN and of course Fox.

Could there be a double standard?? No, of course not.

[cascadiance]

15. Why do we hear a lot of Juanita Broderick...

... and yet hear nothing of Margie Schoedinger? Same stuff has been happening for some time now with the "liberal media"... We just have to recognize the system in place and find a way to change the system itself or work around it. That's the state of affairs we have to deal with until we overthrow this dictatorship by corrupt voting machines...

[woosh]

16. David Corn

If I remember correctly, he was one of the more left-leaning journalists who did his best to discredit any talk about fraud in the 2004 election.

That said, I didn't find anything he wrote to be factually without merit.

[uppityperson]

19. Too bad Gannon/Guckert can't spell Corn right either

especially with them being good friends and all.

[Al-CIAda]

18. T. Hartmann just talking about the possible Moonie connection! eom

[Skittles]

20. is the ENTIRE press on the bush payroll?

if it was a Democratic president it would be on the news 24x7

[dbt]

23. Alas, dear Skittles, THESE whores are working for FREE!

[Nothing Without Hope]

24. See also this thread: "THE SILENT ONES OF GANNONGATE"

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x1619558

It raises the issue of all the groups and people that you'd expect to be screaming about a gay prostitute in the White House but have been strangely silent. For example: the RW Fundies, Matt Drudge, and others.